89 Stick-Up Kid:pottie: I have a home for that catfish...right here next to the grits.

All jokes aside, I bet a large catfish like this tastes like shiat.

Truman Capote once said that the only difference between the rich and the poor is that the rich eat young things. Think about it, veal, baby carrots, etc. So you are essentially right, something that old would be better off released to breed and harvest the young ones to eat.

keypusher:i did something like this when I was three or so -- didn't realize the fish was dead. The next door neighbors played along and promised to take good care of him.

Yeah, I was dumb.

No, you were three and had a bit of a heart about you. but most parents get their kid a gold fish to teach lessens about mortality. or.. if they are pricks, so they don't have to get you a puppy, like... " What about that goldfish we got you? you didn't take care of it and IT DIED!"

but, back to the article. I'm also sure the old lady wants to get someone to pay her for it. If their is a local wlidlife exhibit nearby they MIGHT take it, as a donation. if they have tank space. We got a couple of monster like that at the wildlife center at Maymont park.

but no. they are not good for eating...A) yes, litteraly bottom feeding, and living in muck fish. the fish has had many, MANY years to absorb what ever is in that muck.around here that would be heavy metals, PCB's, Kepone.etc.B) large fish like that has tougher fishier tasting muddy meat

Ideally you want small, young catfish, usually no more than five pounds.

I love wild catfish, I kinda like the "dirty" taste it can have sometimes, but for general safety, stick with farm raised.

in fact... I had country fried cube steak and catfish last night with a country pepper gravy with shallots and oyster mushroom with cheese grits and creamed spinach.

MayContainHorseGluten:So many morans in this thread. You don't eat giant fish like that, they taste horrible, and since they've probably lived a very long time they've absorbed more toxic chemicals then anyone should eat.

look one post over yours..

in any case, Its looking to me like the common sense people are outnumbering the idiots that want to eat it.

but, same thing with huge Lobsters.. not really good for eating, meat is too tough, no flavor to it, and the creature would better be served as part of the breeding cycle.

Cerebral Knievel:A) yes, litteraly bottom feeding, and living in muck fish. the fish has had many, MANY years to absorb what ever is in that muck.around here that would be heavy metals, PCB's, Kepone.etc.

Adding my voice to "If you're not going to eat the farking thing, put it back in the river"--to be very blunt, very few places have the facilities to keep a catfish that big, most of those are called "major aquariums and MAYBE a Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops--and you're even stretching the capacity of THOSE two with an 83-pounder catfish", and even the Underwater Zoos will only have space for a catfish that big if they have a BIG "native river life" exhibit.

And yes, a catfish that damn big needs something a hell of a lot bigger than a 9' x 9' x 5' swimming pool--especially blue catfish.

/also agrees with those who emphasize "put the farking thing back in the river"--between its age and Gods-only-knows-how-many-PCBs it's concentrated, you'll not only be risking making yourself ill but causing any offspring to be born with a farking foot in their forehead and what doesn't get eaten might well be classifiable as hazmat//would like it to live so it can make moar blue catfish of a size more appropriate for nommage with some corn and mustard greens on the side

machoprogrammer:Cerebral Knievel: A) yes, litteraly bottom feeding, and living in muck fish. the fish has had many, MANY years to absorb what ever is in that muck.around here that would be heavy metals, PCB's, Kepone.etc.

WalMartian: Literally. Bottom feeders.

Blue catfish are actually opportunistic feeders. They prefer live fish, but will eat off bottom if they have to

thank you for clearing that up. but still a fish that big and old has usually gone lazy and is living in a hole waiting for something to come by at that point. but because of what you pointed out, the blues are usually safer to eat than other breeds. but I also believe that most cat fish breeds are generally opportunists to begin with, as in, they'll usually eat anything that gets close enough to fit in thier mouth, and even then, they'll still try.

but still people.. young's around five pounds max, three pounds min, farm raised is preferable.